1
Rotary International District 9650
E News - Sunday 22 March 2020
Rotary International President
Mark Maloney (Gay)
Rotary Club of Decatur Alabama USA
District Governor
Phil Hafey (Bronwyn)
Rotary Club of Laurieton NSW Australia
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 9650 INC
www.rotary9650.org.au
Contributions are sought and encouraged. Please e-mail to Neville Parsons: [email protected]
MESSAGE FROM DG PHIL HAFEY
As Rotarians and Clubs, along with most other
organisations and businesses, struggle with the rapidly
changing face of our society I would like to emphasise
the many positive things that are happening in our
Rotary world.
Rotary International has been encouraging us to think of
new ways we can communicate and work within our
Communities to assist those in need and many Clubs
are looking at new methods of meetings and working on
projects within our communities.
One of the options is a Zoom meeting which is available
online or via phone. If any Club wishes to try a Zoom
meeting, please contact PDG Rob Anderson who will set
up a meeting for the Club. Please contact your Assistant
Governor if you need any more information as to what
Zoom is.
Most Rotarians would have heard me talk about
Kempsey West’s Housebound Book Project which has
been operating for over 45 years. Last Saturday
provided a new twist to this project where Coles had
provided a plastic bag with two rolls of toilet paper and a
box of tissues for each of the Housebound Book Project
clients. Is your Rotary Club in a position to assist the
elderly with their grocery needs?
Despite the ever changing rules and recommendations
coming from Government there is still a need for Rotary
Clubs to assist those recovering from Drought and
Bushfires and to this end I will be in a position to publish
details of new opportunities for grants and funding for
projects in next week’s E News. At this stage I anticipate
that there will be $50,000 available for drought recovery
projects and over $75,000 available for bushfire
recovery projects. In addition, RAWCS is working with
the Federal Government to distribute funds to drought
affected Communities.
Included with E News this week is the list of trophy
winners which should have been announced at this
weekend’s Conference.
Congratulations to the winners and the trophies will be
delivered when next our District is able to gather.
On the subject of Conference, all registration fees will be
refunded in full and this process is already underway.
However, the refunds may take up to 7 days to be
processed so please do not ring the registration team.
This afternoon the RYLA 9650 Management committee
met online to discuss Federal and State Government
recommendations and directives regarding the
containment of COVID-19. We have therefore made the
difficult decision to postpone RYLA 2020 to a date to be
determined, potentially still this year.
AS you are aware this year District 9650 is celebrating
the 50th anniversary of RYLA being held in our district.
This made the decision to postpone RYLA 2020 all the
more difficult however, under the current world crisis it is
prudent and an exercise in good governance to post-
pone to a date more suitable. It is important for all Rotar-
ians, Sponsors and participants to be aware that this is a
postponement and not a cancellation. As soon as we
acquire an alternate date from NSW Sports and
Recreation, we will inform the district.
It is imperative that all clubs immediately notify all
nominated participants as well as sponsors regarding
this unfortunate postponement. People that you have
approached and interviewed for RYLA suitability should
be contacted and kept updated regarding an alternate
date. Nobody wants these people to miss out on such a
great and potentially life changing opportunity.
Be assured that our leadership team is unanimous in
this decision and united in ensuring that RYLA 9650 will
be happening at the earliest feasible time.
David W. Mayne
DGN & RYLA 9650 Chair
Po
stp
on
ed
2
DISTRICT GOVERNOR 2022-2023 - EXPRESSIONS
OF INTEREST INVITED
D965O Clubs are invited to
submit their suggestions for
nominations for District
Governor for the 2022-2023
year.
Such suggestions are to
be received by DG Phil Hafey on or before Tuesday 31
March 2020.
D9670 are also seeking expressions of interest from their
Clubs for District Governor for this same year, being the
first year that D9650 and D9670 will be the one new
District.
The nominations received by the respective District
Governors will be considered by the Nominating
Committee which will comprise the District Governor,
District Governor-elect and District Governor-nominee of
both District 9650 and District 9670 together with the
Chair of the Transition Committee.
The District Governor Nomination Application Form, is
located in the Documents Library on the District 9650
Website and is to be returned direct to DG Phil Hafey no
later than Tuesday 31 March 2020. By mail to P O Box
92, Bonny Hills 2445 or via email to
Clubs are reminded of the following as specified in the
D9650 Policies at 4.05.2.1:
The Nomination Form requires that the Nominee
suggestion from the Club be endorsed via a resolution of
members adopted at a regular meeting of the club
naming the suggested candidate. The resolution shall be
certified by the club secretary. A club may suggest only
one of its own members as a candidate for governor-
nominee. (RI Bylaws Article 12.030.3)
The criteria for eligibility for District Governor include:
• Candidates must, at the time of taking office, have
been a Club President and been a Rotarian for 7
years;
• The successful candidate must attend Rotary Zone
8 and Rotary International training;
• Given this will be for a newly formed District,
Rotary International have advised that Past
District Governors of either D9650 or D9670 are
eligible to apply.
The interviews for the position of District Governor
2022-23 of the District created by the merger of D9650
and D9670 have been scheduled for the weekend of 30-
31 May 2020 at a venue yet to be decided.
New Plans for District Assemblies
The following advice was issued to all Club Presidents
and Presidents-elect on Tuesday 17 March 2020 at
9:18pm.
As you have most likely anticipated the scheduled District
Assemblies as previously foreshadowed will be cancelled
and in their place will be one District Assembly that will
be provided via Zoom Meetings.
This is formal advice of the cancelling of the previously
advised District Assemblies and the scheduling of the
one that will be an electronic meeting on Sunday 3 May
2020 to run from 9am to 4pm with scheduled breaks for
morning and afternoon tea and lunch… only thing is that
you will need to cater for yourself!
To be clear there will be no District Assembly on either 5
April 2020 nor the 19 April 2020 and we will provide a
Zoom Meeting facilitated District Assembly on Sunday 3
May 2020 to ensure that we abide by the NSW Health
“social distancing” guidelines.
We will also set out the Rotary International’s Learning
Centre modules for the various Club roles and encourage
incoming Officers to do the Learning Centre modules of
relevance. To ensure that this can be done then all
incoming Officers are encouraged to have a Rotary
International “My Rotary” sign-on and have at least
investigated the Learning Centre and the various mod-
ules of learning.
We will then schedule a Presidents and Secretaries
specific Zoom Meeting pre or post that Assembly meeting
to address the specific President and Secretary matters
that we would normally do at Assemblies.
The actual Assembly Zoom Meeting will likely cover off
an Agenda with key presentations as follows:
• DGE Debbie Loveday – Goals and Focus for year
• District Youth protection Officer Diana Reynolds –
the latest update on Youth protection requirements
• District Insurance Officer Brett White – the latest
update on Insurance requirements for protection
• PR Director PDG Brian Beesley – the importance
of telling our story and doing stuff
• Membership Director 2020-2021 Jenny Sinclair –
the focus on the various Rotary Club types as a
Menu and the viewing of some membership
Videos of What not to do
• Foundation Director PDG Maurie Stack – Maurie’s
Foundation Overview
• An overview of other Director Portfolios as
highlighted in the Directory
• My Rotary Overview and Rotary Club Central
I am also proposing that each District Director would schedule during May 2020 a Zoom meeting session on their portfolios for the related Club Officers eg Community Service, International Service, Vocational,
Youth, Club Admin and Rotaract. Assistant Governors would also be encouraged to hold 2 zoom meetings with their Presidents and Secretaries 2020-2021 during May & June at mutually agreed dates.
So for now I wanted to provide you the news of the cancelling Assemblies as initially proposed and the scheduling of a “super District Assembly via Zoom meetings on Sunday 3 May 2020.
3
Message from Rotary International South Pacific &
Philippines Office
Dear Club Officers,
Please be advised that effective today, 16th March
2020, this office will be operating under an alternative
setup both to ensure the well-being and safety of our staff
as well as to lead the community to make an effort to
flatten the curve and allow our health systems to cope
with the surge of confirmed cases of COVID19 in our
communities.
Work from home arrangements have been offered to all
staff and while we carry on as normally as possible, there
will be some areas of our operations that will be
impacted.
Calls will still go through to our phones and we
encourage you to contact us if you need any assistance.
Our Contact List would be helpful in identifying who to
call for your particular query. Our Resource Guide for
Rotary Club Officers also provides helpful links to
resources that you may need.
Some of our staff will be coming in on Tuesdays and
Thursdays to check on mail and bank any cheques that
come by post. Dispatch of regalia via Australia Post will
also be done on those days. Fedex to the Philippines will
only be done on Thursdays.
We strongly encourage you to use MyRotary to make
dues payments and contributions. Other
alternatives would be to do a funds transfer (instructions
are included in the Resource Guide for Rotary Club
Officers), properly identifying the club or donor; or by
credit card. These methods can be done with minimal
delays.
With the uncertainty in the economy, it is expected for the
exchange rates to take a bad turn. If you are intending to
send in funds, please do so before the end of March.
The situation we are faced with is unprecedented and we
are trying to be as adaptable as we can be without
sacrificing the service levels that we are committed to
delivering. I am proud to be leading such a dynamic team
who are passionately supportive of Rotary’s causes and
ideals.
Please reach out to us if you need anything as that is
what we are here for. If you have any suggestions or
feedback on how we can serve you better, please let us
know. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy. Let’s look
out for each other in these challenging times.
Best Grace
Grace Ramirez
Manager, International Office and Financial Services
rotary.org
Direct Line: (612) 8894 9830
Office Line: (612) 8894 9800
Facsimile: (612) 8894 9899
Postponement of Foundation grant-related travel
Rotary is monitoring the spread of COVID-19 closely to
ensure the health and safety of all program participants.
Given the ever-changing nature of this pandemic, the
Foundation is cancelling all grant-funded travel for the
months of March and April while we monitor the situation.
The only exception is for scholars who are returning to
their home countries.
If you are sponsoring a district grant or global grant that
includes travel during March or April, we ask that you
postpone the grant-funded travel and contact your
regional grants officer to alert them to this change.
We will send updates as they become available. In the
meantime, stay safe and well.
Kind regards,
Abby McNear
Director of Grants
Tel 1.847.425.5656
rotary.org
Unfortunately due to the COV19 Virus the decision has
been made to cancel the Zone 8 GETS and Institute/
Conference in Alice Springs set for September 2020. The
health and welfare of Rotarians and their families was
foremost in this decision. There were also significant
financial implications if we were to cancel the GETS and
Institute/Conference at a later date. I wasn’t prepared to
take that risk.
We are in unprecedented times globally as well as here
in Australia and New Zealand. We need to make sure
that we look after ourselves, our families and friends at
this time.
Regards, Noel Trevaskis, Conference Convenor
Rotary International Convention Cancelled
The Rotary International Convention, scheduled for 6-
10 June 2020, in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, has been
cancelled in response to the ongoing threat of COVID-
19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
4
Diarise Now for
a great Rotary
weekend
Rotary Fun &
Learning
Rotary Club of South West Rocks welcomes
2 new members
Rotary club of South West Rocks, had the pleasure of inducting 2 new members last Wednesday night.
We welcome them into our Rotary family
Photo Below: From left to right
Peter Caha, Bev Bartlett, new member Suzanne Bright, President Muni Osborne, new member Julie Hennessey Daryl Bartlett, Kay Pollock and Rob Pollock
Photo Right: Suzanne Bright, President Muni Osborne and Julie Hennessey
Rotary Club of Uralla Art Exhibition cancelled
Following the advice of the Department of Health and in
consultation with Rotary DG Phil Hafey, the Uralla Shire
Council and other community representatives - with
regard to the escalating COVID-19 issues - the Art Show
Committee have made the unfortunate decision to cancel
the 43rd Annual Rotary Club of Uralla Art Exhibition.
The Committee publicly thanked all the sponsors, local
businesses and community members for their support of
the Art Show, and are now going through the process of
repaying artists entry fees and sponsorship cash &
vouchers.
It is quite a big job and luckily many artists are submitting
entries online which makes the process of being in
contact a little easier.
The Uralla Rotary Club was set to hold a fantastic event
with around 500 entries received from artists across
NSW, QLD and the Uralla Shire Council Preschools,
Primary and High Schools.
Guest Artist Katherine Miles, NERAM Artistic Director Ms
Rachael Parsons and our wonderful local Member of
Parliament Mr Adam Marshall have all pledged their
support for the Art Exhibition in 2021.
The Rotary Club of Uralla encourages social distancing, good hygiene and consideration of the more vulnerable members of our communities at this very difficult time.
Leanne Doran
Publicity Officer, The Rotary Club of Uralla
Message from Robin Norton President Rotary Club of West Kempsey
Hi Everyone
I thought I’d let you know how yesterday’s Home Lending
Library deliveries went with
our extra care packages.
Each resident (5 deliveries
in total) received a box of
tissues and 2x rolls of toilet
paper with their library
books.
All these goods were very
kindly donated by Coles in
Kempsey.
Suzanne reported that the
toilet paper and tissues
were very well received and appreciated. One recipient in
particular was very thankful as she was down to her last
roll.
Suzanne then added an extra two rolls to her delivery.
Great work Suzanne!!!
The extra rolls and tissues will be kept for future Library
Deliveries.
Stay positive everyone! There is still plenty of good we
can do in the community!
Message for the Fellowship of Rotarian PDGs
I am sure that by now you have heard the news of the cancellation of the Rotary International Convention in Honolulu. It is the first time in Rotary's 115 year history that the convention has been cancelled. It is a sad decision, certainly, but it is a decision that was made with great thought, time, and analysis. I think we can agree that it was the correct decision. The lack of a convention means that we will also not be holding our annual "Dinner With the RI Presidents". There has been a great deal of work to plan this event already and we're sorely disappointed we won't be able to welcome you this year. I'd like to thank Ann Lee Hussey and her team that worked so hard to prepare for the event. We certainly hope to greet you all at our dinner at future conventions. As we go through these difficult times, my thoughts turn to our clubs. As Past District Governors of Rotary International we have each dealt with difficult situations in clubs and have each had to help clubs find solutions. Virtually all of our clubs now find themselves in a difficult situation. I would encourage each of you to invest in your clubs during this time. Help lead your clubs to continue meeting virtually using tools like Zoom, WebEx, or Skype. If your club needs help in understanding and utilizing these tools we have resources that can assist you and your club. As you conduct these virtual meetings you may need content. With so many meetings being cancelled, many Rotary leaders find themselves with calendars that suddenly have gaping holes. Reach out to them and ask them to participate in your club's virtual meeting. You may be surprised at who is willing to attend your club's meeting virtually. There has likely never been a Rotary theme more appropriate during the year than RIP Mark Maloney's "Rotary Connects the World". We must work now to connect and stay connected."